Faculty Load

Faculty Load Policy

Applies to:	Original Policy Date:	Date of Last Review:	Approved by:
Full-Time Faculty	September 4, 2024	September 4, 2024	Dr. John Z. Kiss Provost and Senior VP for Academic Affairs

Policy Owner: Office of the Provost

Policy Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for faculty workload to ensure a balance between teaching, research/scholarly activity, and service responsibilities while maintaining high-quality education and fostering academic excellence. Further, it establishes a clear framework for compensating university full-time faculty members who are assigned to duties beyond their standard full-time load.

Policy Scope

This policy applies to all full-time faculty members.

Policy Statement

Florida Institute of Technology is committed to maintaining a balanced and equitable faculty workload that supports the university’s mission of excellence in teaching, research/scholarly activity, and service. The standard faculty load is designed to allow faculty members to effectively contribute to all aspects of academic life while ensuring the highest quality of education for Florida Tech students. This policy provides guidelines for assigning full-time faculty members a standard and reasonable workload based on their tracks.

Florida Tech shall adhere to the procedures and guidelines described herein.

Full-time faculty members shall be assigned a standard full-time load that consists of some combination of teaching, research/scholarly activity, service, and, for Library faculty, librarianship, in accordance with the procedures and guidelines described herein, and in consultation with their supervisors.
Full-time faculty members may be given an overload assignment when their expected duties exceed the standard full-time load. See Faculty Overload and Compensation Policy.

Procedures/Guidelines

A full-time faculty member’s primary responsibilities include a combination of teaching, scholarly activity, service, or, for library faculty, librarianship. A full-time faculty member’s standard full-time load is divided into five units per academic term, each representing 20% of the faculty member’s base time. The specific balance and expectations for these activities may vary based on the faculty member’s academic appointment. Unless otherwise agreed upon in writing with the supervisor, duties, responsibilities, and assignment of a full-time faculty member must be consistent with the expectations established for the faculty member’s track and rank within their respective academic unit.

Standard Teaching Load

The standard teaching load varies based on the faculty member's appointment type and overall research intensity of the college.

Tenure-track and Tenured Faculty
- Tenure-track and tenured faculty members will generally have lower teaching expectations; however, this is at the discretion of the department head and/or dean depending on the level of scholarly activity that the faculty member is engaged in.
- Faculty members with active funding may be eligible for a reduced teaching load through teaching buyout, subject to departmental and/or dean approval.
Non-tenure Track Faculty
- Non-tenure-track faculty are generally expected to teach the equivalent of four units per academic term.
- Research-active non-tenure-track faculty may be eligible for a reduced teaching load, subject to departmental and/or dean approval.
Course Equivalencies
- One unit (20% of faculty-time) is equivalent to a 3-credit face-to-face lecture course or synchronous online course taught in an academic term.
- 4-credit courses carry a higher weight due to increased contact hours.
- 1-2 credit laboratory courses carry a weight based on the contact hours and lab responsibilities.
- Asynchronous Online Courses: Counted as 0.33 course load.
- Deviation from exact weighting of course load is subject to departmental and/or dean approval.
Library Faculty
- For Library faculty, teaching load is replaced by librarianship duties.

Research and Scholarship

Tenure-track and tenured faculty are expected to maintain an active research and scholarly agenda. Tenure-track and tenured faculty members in the College of Engineering and Science are generally expected to have greater research and scholarly activity expectations than faculty members in other colleges or the Library.
Non-tenure-track faculty may also engage in scholarly activity. Expectations for scholarly activities for non-tenure-track faculty are defined in the college promotion guidelines in the Faculty Handbook.
One unit of research/scholarly activity is equivalent to 20% of a faculty member’s base time per academic term.

Service

All faculty members are expected to participate in departmental, college, university and/or external service activities, including but not limited to curriculum committees, faculty senate, graduate committees, professional society committees, and peer reviews of research proposals and journal articles. Full-time faculty members with the title of “Instructor” may have their service expectations reduced to zero to accommodate additional teaching load.
Significant administrative roles such as an academic unit head, program chair, or director may result in a reduced teaching load.
Service activities for all tracks may not constitute more than one unit, or 20% of a faculty member’s base time per academic term.

Overload

An overload assignment occurs when a full-time faculty member is required to teach or perform other duties that would constitute an assignment more than the standard full-time load. See Faculty Overload and Compensation Policy.

Load Variations

Academic units may adjust individual faculty loads based on specific needs, faculty expertise, and research productivity, while staying within the bounds of the five-unit load structure.

New Faculty

Newly hired tenure-track faculty may receive a reduced teaching load in their first year to establish their research programs.
Newly hired non-tenure-track faculty may receive a reduced teaching load in their first year to develop curriculum at the discretion of the department head and/or dean.

Annual Faculty Load Review

Faculty workload will be reviewed annually as part of the annual faculty performance evaluation process.
Research productivity and external funding will be considered in determining future teaching loads.

Definitions

Full-time Faculty: See FH 2.5.1 Full-time Faculty Definition in the Faculty Handbook

Standard Full-Time Load: A full-time faculty member’s standard load is constituted by five units, each unit representing 20% of faculty-time for which a base salary is paid, per academic term. The five units are generally expected to consist of some combination of teaching, research/scholarly activity, service, or, for library faculty, librarianship. A unit need not be exclusively dedicated to teaching, research/scholarly activity, service, or librarianship.

Academic Term: 16-week Fall or Spring term, or 8-week Fall-1, Fall-2, Spring-1, or Spring-2 terms.

Course Load: 3-credit face-to-face lecture course assigned to a faculty member in an academic term.

Research-active Faculty: Faculty members conducting research or other scholarly activities towards meeting college-specific criteria for research/scholarly productivity

Librarianship: Professional library duties that support the academic mission of the institution, including but not limited to reference services, information literacy instruction, collection development, library systems and technology management, digital initiatives, etc.

Responsibilities

Faculty Members are responsible for

fulfilling assigned teaching, research/scholarly activity, and service responsibilities as assigned by their supervisors;
maintaining accurate records of their activities in teaching, research, and service;
communicating proactively with their supervisor about workload concerns; and
participating in the annual faculty performance review process and providing updated information on their activities.

Supervisors are responsible for

assigning courses and determining individual faculty teaching loads in consultation with faculty members;
ensuring that workload assignments are consistent with faculty member’s track;
monitoring and evaluating faculty performance in teaching, research/scholarly activity, and service; and
recommending adjustments to individual faculty loads based on performance and departmental needs.

Deans are responsible for

ensuring college-wide compliance with the Faculty Load Policy;
developing and proposing college-specific criteria for teaching, research/scholarly, and service activities, in consultation with academic unit heads and faculty and consistent with this policy;
reviewing and approving faculty workload plans that deviate from general expectations;
managing overall college teaching capacity and resource allocation;
ensuring the college has a sufficient number of full-time faculty members, and reporting related concerns to the Provost;
ensuring the annual faculty performance evaluations are completed fairly, properly, and timely; and
for the Dean of Libraries, developing and overseeing implementation of library faculty workload guidelines in alignment with this policy.

Office of the Provost is responsible for

overseeing the implementation and enforcement of the Faculty Load Policy across the institution;
mediating disputes or appeals related to faculty workload assignments;
ensuring the annual faculty performance evaluations are completed fairly, properly, and timely;
ensuring a sufficient number of full-time faculty to the institution’s mission and goal; and
conducting periodic reviews of this policy to ensure it meets institutional needs and accreditation requirements.

Human Resources, in conjunction with the Office of the Provost, is responsible for

assisting in the documentation and tracking of annual faculty performance evaluations;
maintaining records of overload agreements and ensuring that these agreements are equitable and sustainable across the institution; and
ensuring that workload assignments are consistent with faculty contracts if applicable.

Compliance Reference

SACSCOC Standard 6.1, 6.2.b.